Quakers

Student Support

Quakers

We have always avoided formal statements of belief, or 'creeds', feeling that they are more likely to lead to conflict than to understanding; but our perspective can be summed up in these statements:

We seek that of God in each person we meet.

Meeting together in stillness we wait for the inspiration of the Spirit.

We are a community of friends respecting diversity... ... and open to new light from where ever it might spring.

Our service to others is our service to God

Our religious society stands as witness that whatever humans may have done, we can still come to love one another and build a commonwealth of peace. Our Quaker faith springs from the experience that each one of us can have a direct relationship with the Divine. We Quakers find that by meeting together for communal worship we are empowered to find peace and strength for work in the world.

Quakers respect the creative power of God in every human being and in the world around us. We work through quiet processes for a world where peaceful means bring about just settlements.

'Quakers' or 'Friends'Formally Quakers are the Religious Society of Friends and hence often refer to each other as "Friends". The public more commonly refer to them as Quakers. More than twenty seven thousand people attend Quaker meetings for worship in these islands. These quiet times of seeking the presence of God are held in about 500 places, many of them Quaker owned Friends Meeting Houses.

Meetings in or near Preston are held at the Friends Meeting Houses at the following addresses:

Meetings for WorshipQuakers believe that all can have direct experience of God. In our Meetings for Worship we can meet with God in the un-programmed quiet time and in the vocal contributions of others. Worship is not separate from, but part of our daily lives. We make no distinction between the sacred and the secular as we try to live our convictions in the every day.

Meetings for Business are also held in the context of worship. These may take place after Worship on a Sunday or any other convenient time. Besides those in formal membership, others may attend by permission of the Clerk. In these meetings we seek the will of God. It is a careful exercise in listening: coming along well informed but then being open minded. The Clerk draws out "the sense of the meeting". No votes are taken.

More information about Quakers in Britain can be found on their website. Special weekend events are held several times a year at venues around the Yearly Meeting. Britain itself manages residential centres in central London, Didcot in Oxfordshire and Ulverston in Cumbria, which host some of these events. Their full programmes and links to related programmes are at Short Courses and Retreats.